July 2, 2011

Ken Ard’s 107 Ethics violations- that is ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN ETHICS VIOLATIONS, certainly means that he will agree to leave public office, never to return again.

If he does not agree to leave office then he should be removed from office.

There is nothing more important than the trust we place in our public office holders, and if that is violated, then there should be real consequences. There are plenty of ethical, trustworthy South Carolina citizens we can count on to hold public office, but obviously Ken Ard is not one of them.

South Carolina politicians, both Democrat and Republican, send hundreds of thousands of dollars of our political contributions out of state by paying for out of state consultants and media production.

First off, if a politician has to go out of state to craft their political message, it’s not showing a lot of respect for our state’s citizens, and perhaps they are an individual who is not properly cut out to serve in our state’s government.

Second, if a politician is willing to send our campaign dollars out of state, that doesn’t bode well for how they would manage their fiscal duties in our state government. Our politicians are fond of speaking of creating jobs, but how can we believe this when they pack up our very own campaign dollars and ship them right out of the state? That money should stay in South Carolina for South Carolina.

So let us suggest that individuals running for state office no longer spend thousands and thousands of dollars on out of state consulting and media production, and let them at least pledge to account for all campaign money spent in this manner, so a proper reckoning of their relationship with their constituents can be had.